


Winter Circle

by Eisoj5



Series: Solstice Stories [1]
Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-21
Updated: 2015-12-21
Packaged: 2018-05-08 05:28:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5485316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eisoj5/pseuds/Eisoj5
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A little winter stargazing. Originally posted (uh...somewhere...) in 2004.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Winter Circle

"Mulder, it's freezing out here," Scully said, hugging a knit  
blanket around herself as she stepped out onto the balcony.  "I  
managed to get a fire going in the fireplace inside, even without  
an Indian guide."  She glanced back through the sliding door to  
where the flames danced invitingly.    
  
"Oh yeah?'  Mulder turned his head toward her, and in the  
flickering firelight she saw a smirk playing across his face.  "I  
bet we could get one started out here."  He patted his lap.    
  
She shot him a raised eyebrow.  "Not in this weather."  Yet she  
found herself crossing the tiny balcony and settling on the chair  
with him.    
  
"Ah, that's better," Mulder murmured in her ear.  He slid his  
arms around her waist, under the blanket.    
  
"So what have you been doing out here?" she asked, leaning  
back against the warmth of his body.  "It's too dark for you to  
have been reading this whole time."  
  
"I was watching the stars come out."  
  
Starlight.  She thought of the ghosts of children, and shivered a  
little.    
  
"You can see Orion now," Mulder continued, his breath misting  
around them. Scully twisted around to look up, feeling mildly  
surprised.  "The red star there, that's Betelgeuse."  
  
"Beetlejuice?" she echoed.    
  
"Yeah.  It means 'the armpit of the great one,'" he told her.    
  
"You're kidding."    
  
Mulder shook his head, his eyes intent on her face as she looked  
down at him.  "Would I lie to you, Scully?"    
  
"Beetlejuice.  Right."    
  
"And there's Bellatrix, the other armpit."  
  
"Only you would define a constellation by its armpits," Scully  
said.    
  
"Well, I figured you would know where Orion's belt was," he  
countered.  "That bright white star, that's Rigel, his knee, and  
the other one is Saiph, for his foot."    
  
"And what about those three stars below the belt?" she asked,  
suppressing a chuckle.    
  
"That, Scully, is Orion's sword."    
  
"His sword.  Is that what they're calling it these days."    
  
"He's Orion, the hunter.  Of course he has a sword.  You don't  
actually think that the ancient Greeks went so far as to define  
Orion's penis in the constellation, do you?"    
  
"They were the ancient Greeks, Mulder."  
  
"It's a sword."  He grinned at her.  "Honest to God.  And  
actually, Scully, the middle object, which you so naively dubbed  
a star, is known as the Orion nebula."    
  
"Is that where Orion slave girls come from?"    
  
Mulder assumed an expression of shock.  "Scully!  Of course  
not.  Those come from the planet Orion, not the Orion nebula."  
  
"Of course.  Please continue."  Scully felt herself smiling.    
  
"Now, ancient people incorporated the constellation of Orion in  
their mythos in a number of ways.  The Hopi knew that when  
Orion rose high in the south that the winter solstice was  
imminent, and they went into their kivas and performed sacred  
dances to guide the sun back into the sky.  Other Native  
American tribes believed the constellation to be a great warrior.    
The Egyptians saw Orion as Osiris, the god of the underworld,  
and even lined the pyramids up with the stars of his belt."    
  
His arms tightened about her briefly.  "Do you know the story  
of Osiris, Scully?"  
  
"Only vaguely."    
  
Mulder's voice was muffled as he held her close, almost  
whispering into her neck.  "In short, the story tells that Osiris,  
god-king of Egypt, was murdered by his jealous brother, the  
god Set.  His body was torn to pieces and scattered across  
Egypt.  Isis, his sister-wife, went in search of all the lost parts of  
Osiris and put them back together, bringing him to life."  
  
He paused. "I always thought that it was strange that only  
Osiris was in the sky.  After all, it was Isis that did the work of  
bringing him back to life.  But recently, I learned that Isis never  
leaves his side." One of Mulder's hands lifted and pointed to a  
single white star just above the horizon.  "Isis has always been  
with him, shining brighter than all the stars in the sky."    
  
Scully shifted in his arms to face him.  "Mulder, I . . ."  
  
"I never thanked you, Scully, for doing what you did to find me.  
I know I was hard on you, after I . . . came back, and it couldn't  
have been easy for you when I left again."    
  
She smiled faintly.  "I was going to ask if you were really  
comparing yourself to a god."  An answering smile flickered at  
the corners of his mouth before he leaned in to kiss her, and  
Scully decided that perhaps it really wasn't that cold out after  
all.    
  
*****


End file.
